History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman....

The earlier stamps exhibit more method and precision; the later betray comparative carelessness. In the latter the name of the emperor sometimes occurs alone, and unusual expressions are introduced. Contractions are invariable at all periods, and even the consuls are sometimes only mentioned by initials; but by comparison of examples it is possible to place them in the right order. Those found in Rome cover the period from the reign of Trajan to that of Theodoric (A.D. 500), but in other parts of Italy they are found dating as early as 50 B.C. We are told that Theodoric, when he repaired the walls of Rome, made a present of twenty-five thousand tiles for the purpose,[2510] and on the tiles bearing his name he is styled “The good and glorious king,” with the additional exclamation, “Happy is Rome!”[2511]

The estates on which the clay for the tiles was produced are called possessiones; privata (private property); rationes (shares); insulae (blocks); or more generally, praedia. The latter word, indeed, is almost invariably used down to the third century, the others being more characteristic of the time of Diocletian. The praedia not only provided the clay, but in some cases also contained the potteries. On some tiles fundus, which means a country farm, is found. The proprietors of these estates were imperial personages, persons of consular dignity or equestrian rank, and sometimes imperial freedmen. Many tiles give merely the name of the imperial estates, without mentioning the reigning emperor; in the later ones, as in the Basilica of Constantine, it is usual to find the expression OFF · AVGG ET CAES NN, Officina Augustorum (duorum) et Caesarum (duorum) nostrorum.[2512] Several names of the Antonines occur; also Annius Verus and his wife Domitia Lucilla, the parents of M. Aurelius. Septimius Severus owned many praedia which supplied bricks for his palace on the Palatine.[2513] The Empress Plotina was evidently a large landed proprietor, and we also find the names of Aelius Caesar (Hadrian’s adopted heir), M. Aurelius, Faustina II., and Julia Procula. Among the names of inferior proprietors, unknown to fame, occur Q. Servilius Pudens, T. Statilius Severus, and L. Aemilius Julianus, priest of the sun and moon.[2514] Such names as Q. Agathyrsus, Rutilius Successus, and Sulpicius Servandus seem to denote imperial freedmen; the first-named styles himself AVG · LIB.[2515]

A remarkable fact in connection with these inscriptions is the prevalence of feminine names, the quantity of tiles on which these are found being enormous. The causes are various,—partly the renunciation by emperors of their private fortunes in favour of their female relations; partly the proscriptions which, from the failure of male heirs, caused estates to devolve upon women; partly the gradual extinction of great families. The important position held by freedmen under the Empire is well known to the student of Roman history.

The potteries of the tile-makers were of two kinds—figlinae and officinae; but the former seems to be a wider and inclusive term—that is to say, that one figlina included several officinae or workshops. In the inscriptions, ex figlinis is usually followed by the name of the owner, ex officinis by the name of the potter (officinator). The former expression is by far the commoner, and the latter (OF or OFFIC) is more usually found on lamps and vases, although after the third century it is invariable on the tiles. The figlinae are always mentioned in a subordinate manner to the praedia, when both are mentioned, as is usually the case. The potteries were mostly outside the city, even at some distance. Localities are not often mentioned, but we have the Salarian potteries on the Via Salaria,[2516] and also mention of the Via Nomentana,[2517] and such expressions as Ad Aureliam, Ad Mercurium felicem, or Ad viam triumphalem. Stamps found in the walls along the Appian and Latin ways show that potteries existed in the direction of the Alban and Tusculan hills, and in other parts of Latium, as at Praeneste and Ostia. On the north side they extended as far as Narnia and Ocriculum[2518] on the Tiber. They are also found in Etruria and Campania. Tiles from Latium were exported to Liguria, the Adriatic, Sardinia, Africa, Gaul, and Spain.

Usually a descriptive epithet is associated with the word figlinae, either of a geographical or personal character. Examples of the former are Macedonianae, Rhodianae, and Oceanae. The latter give either the name of an emperor, as Neronianae, Domitianae; or a Gentile or family name, as Favorianae,[2519] Furianae, Publinianae, Terentianae, or Voconianae. One of the names which occurs most frequently is that of L. Brutidius Augustalis, a freedman; others are stamped EX FIGLINIS PRIMIGENI SERVI DNI NOSTRI IMP—“From the potteries of Primigenius, slave of our lord the Emperor.” Imperial slaves owned many potteries, and others were owned by the emperors or other wealthy proprietors, and administered by freedmen or slaves. The officinae served to distinguish the functions of the different figlinae. Thus the establishment of M. Publicius Januarius, a freedman, is styled doliariae officinae; or they are distinguished by separate names, as Claudianae, Domitianae, and so on. The tiles from the potteries of Asinius Pollio bear the name of C. Cosconius as maker, as do those of Julia Procula’s potteries, being further distinguished as doliares, bipedales, and sesquipedales.[2520] It would appear that the potteries of private proprietors were under the direction of freedmen, while those of the imperial estates were chiefly managed by slaves, from whose labours large revenues were obtained.

There were many private potteries in Gaul and Germany.[2521] In the neighbourhood of Saarbrück many tiles have been found with the maker’s name, L. Valerius Labeius. Others with private names have been found at Trier, one with the stamp of the colonia. Several potters with Gaulish names are known, and probably FIDENATIS on a tile at Zulpich, SECVNDANVS F(igulus or fecit) and PACATVS F from Seligenstadt, refer to craftsmen of that nationality.[2522] Often the master’s name only occurs, of which possible instances are BELLICIANVS on a tile from Caerwent, and PRIMV(s) on another from Colchester.[2523] In the British Museum are tiles with the initials T · P · F · A, T · P · F · C, T · P · F · P, from Rodmarton in Gloucestershire.[2524] Tiles found in the provinces also have the maker’s name simply, without indications of date or the owner of the pottery, as on those from Seligenstadt already cited. The makers must in all cases have been of inferior condition, as implied in the example already quoted of the slave Arabus (p. 354); and other names—Daedalus, Peculiaris, Primigenius, Zosimus—belong to the same rank of life. Yet the occurrence of a single name for a private individual is everywhere very common. On the other hand, imperial slaves usually have two names given, and freedmen three.[2525]

On the tiles of the freedmen of the Gens Domitia (dating about the reign of Hadrian) is frequently stamped the formula VALEAT QVI FECIT, “May he who made it prosper,” with the name of the representative of the family in the genitive.[2526] On other tiles we find such expressions as VTAMVR FELICES, “May we use it and be happy”[2527]; FORTVNA COLENDA, “Fortune is to be worshipped” (a second-century tile)[2528]; and on others of post-Diocletian date, VRBIS ROMAE, “The city of Rome”[2529]; SECVLO CONSTANTINIANO, “The age of Constantine”; FELIX ROMA (on the tiles of Theodoric), “Happy is Rome.”[2530] Even on sepulchral tiles of late Imperial times are stamped such aspirations as, VTI FELIX VIVAS, “May you live happily.”[2531]

Again, memoranda are found incised on the tiles, as on one at Hooldorn in Holland, KAL · IVNIS · QVARTVS LATERCLOS N(umero) CCXIIII, “Quartus (made) 214 tiles on the first of June”; and on another, found in Hesse in 1838, STRATVRA TERTIA LATERCVLI CAPITVLARES NVM · LEG · XXII, “In the third layer large tiles of the number of the twenty-second legion.”[2532] A tile found in Hungary had scratched upon it two metrical lines in cursive writing:

and on others names such as Tertius, Kandidus, Verna, were incised.[2534] Idle boys in the brickfields often seem to have scratched the alphabet or other words in the soft clay, and complete Roman alphabets are found at Hooldorn[2535] and Stein on the Anger[2536]; the letters I K L M on one at Winchester[2537]; on another at Silchester is ... E PVELLAM.[2538] On a tile in the Guildhall Museum (Fig. 195), found in Warwick Square, E.C., are the words AVSTALIS | DIBVS · III | VAGATVRSIB | COTIDIM, of which no satisfactory translation has been given, but it has been usually regarded as the gibe of a fellow-workman at a devout individual.[2539] On another, now at Madrid, the first two lines of the Aeneid are written in excellent cursive characters of the first century after Christ.[2540]

The Roman tiles, if rightly used, are found very useful for judging the dates of buildings. For instance, a study of those in the Pantheon showed that the walls were neither the original ones nor those built by Agrippa in 27 B.C., but were restored in the second century or supplied then with new brickwork. On the other hand, the stamps from the Flavian amphitheatre and Thermae Antoninianae confirm the dates of those buildings. Those tiles which bear the name M. Aurelius Antoninus as consul[2541] seem to be the Emperor Caracalla’s. In the time of Diocletian the dates cannot be definitely ascertained, but before his time the shape of the stamp is a good criterion. Rectangular stamps are found in the best period, and in the first century B.C. only one line of inscription is usual. Two lines denote the period 50–100 A.D. or later; semicircular or lunate forms came into use under Claudius, and lasted to the end of the first century; perfect circles belong to the same period. The type with the cut-out orbiculus came in about Nero’s reign, and the size of the orbiculus gradually diminishes down to that of Severus, while the inscriptions gradually increase in length.[2542]

A considerable number of the Roman tiles are inscribed with the names of the consuls of the current year in which they were made, presenting a long and interesting series, from the consulship of L. Licinius Sura and C. Sosius Senecio (A.D. 107) to that of Severus Alexander (A.D. 222). Many of these consulships do not, however, appear to have been recorded in the regular fasti consulares or official lists, and they were probably suffecti, whose names were not recorded after their temporary elevation. It seems likely that the occurrence of consuls’ names implies that such tiles were destined for public buildings, and were so marked to prevent their being stolen with impunity. They are fewer in number than those which have merely the names of praedia or potteries, but are yet sufficiently numerous to be an invaluable aid in tracing the succession for upwards of sixty years. Inscriptions of this class are only found on opus doliare, and chiefly in Italy. Their appearance is probably due to some law passed by the Senate about the reign of Trajan to regulate the potteries. As an example may be given a tile from Hooldorn in the Netherlands, inscribed SVB · DIDIO · IVLIANO · COSS[2543]; the date is A.D. 179, the name being that of the future emperor (COSS is a mistake for COS).